Reverse
by Kaystories
Summary: Somewhere in the distant future…  Imagine a world without wars.
1. Changes

Imagine...

A world where guns, nuclear weapons, and bombs are void.  
A world that determines power by Yearly Ranking Tournaments made possible by the mutated genes of the new 'superior human race'.

**[Yearly Ranking Tournament: Tournament that nations all around the world partake in. This is the new substitute for war. Top five nations that come out on top are Super Powers, the rest are giving ranking numbers from 1- etc. Of the Super Powers, the 2 best are considered the Leading Powers. The way the tournament works is that 6 matches are instituted between nations. In other words 6 chosen people from each nation (if you have less than 6 then you need to have some member compete more than once until you fill in the 6 required matches) will battle 1 on 1 in a said arena with a 30 minute time limit on each match. To win each match, your opponent must be defeated. Defeated: Unconscious, forfeits, or dead. If neither occurs during this time limit, it results in a draw.]**

**And so the story begins…**

"In this age and time, wars are no longer fought; Power is determined and distributed by Yearly Ranking Tournaments. Wars became futile when the birth of the super-humans began. Guns, bombs, and nuclear weapons were rendered useless by these super-humans." I read aloud.

"Thank you Nathan, please sit down." Miss Fay said.  
I stared blankly out the window, wondering what the upperclassmen were doing. My name is Nathan and I attend The School of the Emperor's Courts. Currently, I'm fourteen, a freshman. People describe me as the unfriendly, cocky boy who sports spikey jet black hair and has a pale complexion. However, I like to think of myself as outgoing, brilliant, and handsome, just saying.

Anyways, lower classmen had to sit through classes, take exams, pass exams, and study all day everyday. Once you become an upperclassman you finally get to put all that knowledge into application. I fidgeted in my seat. Our school uniform which was basically a black and yellow, collared top with matching jackets and pants, was a little uncomfortable. Class was extremely boring when you already knew everything you were being taught. Actually, it was boring when you didn't know too. I sighed heavily, only two more years of this bef-  
"Nathan, since you seem so bored, could you answer number 5 for the class?" Miss Fay asked, agitated.

I stood up and cleared my throat, glancing at the question. Too easy.

"The Emperor's Courts were founded by the Five Emperors, who were the top five fighters of our nation at the time. They consecutively won the Yearly Ranking Tournaments, labeling our Nation as a Leading Power. They have been continually succeeded by equally powerful young Emperors. Our current Emperors are Lloyd, Chen Long, Fuji, La Phing, and Huang." I answered confidently.

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Miss Fay stopped giving me grief for the remainder of the class. I was considered a prodigy by many in this prestigious school. Though the only reason why I was able to enroll here is because of my older sister Hayley. She graduated and is in Tier 1 which is why I was scouted. I'll save you the explanation about the Tier's for a later time. Right now, I was going to be late for my next class!  
Jogging quickly towards my pre-applications class I stifled a yawn. Just then, a sturdy looking boy slammed into me. He looked furious! (As if I was the one to blame) I was about to utter an apology just to be polite but…  
"Hey kid, watch where you're going." The boy snickered, then lifted me up by the shirt, winding up his other arm to sock me in the face.

I was having none of that. I sharply elbowed the arm he was using to hold me up and backhanded him in the stomach. I could see the wind get knocked out of him.  
"Sorry, my hand slipped." I smiled. I was undefeated in my pre-app class but I had never encountered real natural arts manipulation before. The boy regained his composure and a small flame engulfed his hand, but it wasn't burning him.

"Oh shit." I muttered. He's an upperclassman! I quickly proceeded to knock him out before he could burn me to smithereens. Mustering as much natural energy I could gather into my right hand, I punched him hard, in the same spot I had backhanded earlier. He crumpled to the floor, the flame in his hand extinguished.

I looked up just in time to see the very same man who had recruited me to this school. Speaking of "time" I was late to my pre-app class. But at the moment, that was the least of my concerns.  
"Mr. Li! I can explain…I mean it's not what it looks like!" I began, but stopped when he held up his hand.  
"That's enough," he said, "you just beat up an upperclassman who knew the natural arts. Do you know what this means?"  
Expulsion? Detention? Suspension? A time out? The suspense was killing me. I shook my head no.  
"Come with me."

He led me down the corridor towards the right wing of the school, where the lower classmen were not allowed to venture. We entered a small side room.  
"Nathan, top of the class, also known as a prodigy, and little brother to Hayley." He stared at me and smiled. "What's said in this room, stays in this room."

I nodded, still not quite understanding what was happening.

"You are indeed a prodigy. But as a freshman you aren't allowed to learn any true natural arts applications. I find this a waste of talent and time."

He walked towards a desk and withdrew a piece of paper and a pen.

"You will be the exception this year. In other words, you will switch into class with the Juniors starting tomorrow. You will be in classes with vigorous training, life and death situations, and relentless battle simulations. You will undoubtedly flourish and thrive if you were to overcome these hardships. I have confidence that you will surpass even your sister. Now, if you understand all of this, sign here…it's a waiver form."

Relieved that I wasn't in trouble, and instead was being granted an opportunity of a lifetime, I signed it. Finally, I thought, something interesting is going to happen!

"Thank you for giving me this chance." I began.  
"No, my dear boy. You should thank Miss Fay instead. She's the one who set this all up."

…


	2. Meet Alice

I was thoroughly confused at this point. "What do you mean Miss Fay set this up?"

"Didn't you find it strange that an upperclassman was wandering through the freshman corridors?"  
Now that he mentioned it, it was true. But I hadn't been focused on that.  
"That boy earlier, it was a test. Miss Fay has noticed for a while now, that you're above the freshman level." Mr. Li explained.  
"What will happen to him?" I asked.  
"He will be expelled of course. For more reasons that one might I add." He didn't elaborate any further. "Anyways, allow me to give you a tour of this area."

"That would be most helpful!" I beamed.  
Mr. Li then proceeded to give me one of the most informative tours ever. He stopped to explain every nook and cranny. There were the many training arenas, dorms, cafeterias, and classrooms. Then we arrived at the Emperor's Hall (which led to the Emperor's Courts). It was a long, beautiful, golden hallway. You could barely make out what lay beyond it. Intricate carvings of dragons filled the walls.

"Beyond here," he explained "is where the Emperor's reside. You are not allowed to wander through this area uninvited."  
I nodded my consent. Who would be dumb enough to go down there and risk the wrath of an Emperor?  
"Well that concludes our tour; do you remember where your new dorm is?"

"Yes."  
"You're expected to move in by tomorrow afternoon. You will meet your new roommate then. You're to shadow him until we get a better grasp of where you really stand."

"Alright. Sounds good, thank you."

…

Back at the freshman dorm, my roommate was begging me to help him with his concepts homework.

"Ronan, it's easy, just read the textbook."

"I did but it's too flowery and complicated."

In other words, he didn't read it.  
"Okay. Pay attention. I'm only going to say this once." I sighed, deciding to do him this one last favor before I left. He nodded triumphantly.

"The Manipulation of Natural Energy, sometimes known as the 'arts' is exactly what is sounds like. Basically, certain human bodies have mutated and evolved. Their bodies are programmed differently, with a different genetic make up. Often, they are immune to past-time weapons thus resulting in the Yearly Tournaments between the nations." I paused. "You got all that?"

"Yup. Keep going, what about section two?"

"Well, natural manipulation allows you to momentarily conjure up and control certain elements of nature. It is extremely difficult to perform, but this technique is the only way to take down the super humans. The more powerful and experienced you are, the longer the length of time you're able to use this skill becomes. If you can master it, you can manipulate it even further. For example, a fire manipulator can craft a sword from the flames."

"You do realize you summarized thirty pages worth of information into two paragraphs right? But thank you, that was most helpful."

I chuckled. "You're welcome."

He turned to leave, class was about to begin. But I no longer had to worry since I was excused from all my classes for today.

"By the way…" I hesitated.  
"Yeah?" he turned around, flashing me his dorky grin.

"No, never mind, it's nothing. See you later."

"Alright, bye! Thanks again!"

I woke up early to pack. Yawning, I cleaned myself up quietly. Ronan was snoring peacefully, blissfully unaware of my departure. It didn't take long to pack up all my belongings. I glanced around the room one last time to make sure I didn't forget anything. Alright, I thought to myself. Time to meet my new roommate. I closed the door gently behind me and made my way over to the right wing of the school.

I was excited and nervous all at once. I hope he doesn't have any serious B.O…what if he's a jerk? I might have to kill him. I shook my head. What am I thinking? Stupid. I dropped my bags down and knocked on the door of my new dorm.

"Uhm…hi? Can I help you?" A tall slender, black haired girl, _girl_, opened the door.

She was beautiful. Breathtakingly so. She was wearing our unflattering uniform but she managed to look gorgeous nonetheless. She completely took me by surprise and so I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Is this a joke?"

"Are _you_ a joke?" She had a confused, almost comical look on her face.

"Hey! Are you Nathan?" A voice from behind us asked.

The two of us simultaneously whipped our heads around to face a small boy who couldn't have been taller than four ft.

"Yes…and who are you?" I asked hesitantly.

"Your roommate of course. I'm Kyle, nice to meet you too."

It was then that I remembered the girl.

"Then…that's?"

"Alice. She's our neighbor. You got the wrong door man."

I cursed Mr. Li quietly under my breath. What was with these teachers and setting things up?

Alice, our neighbor, was laughing at us now.  
She had a nice set of teeth. Wait, rewind. My roommate is a midget!

"Well it's been very nice meeting the both of you. But I've got to go now. Maybe we'll see each other around." Alice said.

Kyle and I nodded and waved good bye.

"Our dorm is over there." He pointed to the door adjacent to Alice's. He grinned at me. "I know what you're thinking. She's cute ain't she?"

"Haha, well yeah, she is."

"Don't even think about it. I'm warning you now, she can kick ass. Big juicy fat ass."

I silently wondered about his choice of words. He was indeed quite interesting.

"I wasn't really. She just looks nice, that's all."

"She's in Tier 2. Talk about looks can kill." He chuckled.

"Right." I said, trying to take my mind off Alice, to no avail.

"We have the rest of this afternoon off, why don't you drop off your stuff in the room and we can visit one of the training arenas." Kyle suggested.

Alice is in Tier 2…I wonder if she knows my sister. If you were ranked as a Tier 1, it meant you were a potential candidate for an Emperor's spot. It also meant you would be used as training partners for the Emperor's. If you were ranked as Tier 2, it still meant you were insanely powerful. And it meant that you possessed the ability to rise to Tier 1, since Tier 1 has a limited number of spots. I used to hate it when people referred to me as Hayley's younger brother. I worked hard to move out of her shadow.

"We're here." Kyle said, interrupting my thoughts.

We entered the training arena which was already full of people. The skill level gaps were huge and noticeable. We took a seat to watch a fight play out. This particular arena was a giant reinforced glass box. I saw a woman sitting down to the left of us. She was looking intently at the match, her knees were drawn up to her chin and she was using her jacket as a blanket. She had short black hair with bangs, her hair just covered over her ears.

Kyle must have seen me staring. "That's Priscilla. She's a coach here, a very beastly one too."

"Hey Alice!" Priscilla said, waving in our direction.

Alice? It couldn't be. But there she was, right behind us.

"Hey Priscilla! We're up next aren't we?" Alice said, waving back.

I was watching this exchange with growing fascination.

"Oh hey guys. Are you here to watch my match with Priscilla?" She asked.

"N-,"

"Yes! We are. Good luck you two, be careful." Kyle interrupted.

"Thanks!" Alice smiled warmly.

"They're going to fight? Like right now?" I whispered.

"Yep. It'll be good, enjoy the show." Kyle smirked with a gleam in his eye.


	3. Resolve

Alice and Priscilla walked into the glass arena, smiling. Priscilla had dropped off her jacket, revealing her incredibly toned legs and flowery T-shirt that read "Relax! Go to the beach and have some FUN!" They were calm as they faced each other and bowed politely. The referee, who was a middle-aged man with multiple scars on his face, told them to begin.

Alice was quick, she was able to create a makeshift iron spear and fling it at Priscilla while in her other hand, a sturdy looking sword had formed. Priscilla dodged the spear and placed both her hands on the ground. A large shield came out of the ground where her hands were and she ripped it up just in time to block a heavy blow from Alice. A thunderous metallic sound resounded throughout the arena. But without missing a heart beat, Alice violently kicked the shield Priscilla was behind, knocking her backwards. Priscilla crashed into the glass wall with a heavy _thud_. Alice charged immediately with the new weapon she had just crafted, a lance. She was ready to impale right through Priscilla.

Priscilla was having none of that, she discarded her damaged shield and created two large earthly looking pillars from the ground, stopping Alice dead in her tracks. Alice distanced herself away from Priscilla as Priscilla ripped the two pillars out and threw them at her. The edge of the second pillar made contact with Alice's left arm, blood was seeping out of the fresh wound. Unfazed by this, Alice created yet another sword and began another round of assaults.

By now, a large crowd had formed to watch this ridiculous battle take place. Priscilla had two smaller shields she used to defend herself with while Alice relentlessly kept up her barrage of attacks. Finally, Alice knocked away Priscilla's shields and pressed the edge of her blade against Priscilla's throat.

"Hahahahaha!" Priscilla laughed heartily. "You win again, Alice. I give up."

Removing her sword from her friend's neck, Alice smiled back at her. "You were tough as usual though. My whole left arm is numb…"

"That didn't stop you from crushing my defense though!"

The two of them walked out of the arena, with Alice supporting Priscilla up. They passed by us, on their way to the infirmary.

"Good match, yes?" Kyle asked me.

"They're so powerful." I said in awe.

"Alice uses iron and specializes in offensive martial arts. Priscilla is the defensive, passive aggressive earth element user. They often go at it, but Alice always wins. If you'd like, tomorrow we can have a match too." Kyle grinned.

"That's funny, I don't even know what element or style I use. You'd definitely win. But they sure are able to manipulate their elements quickly. Within a split second they already had weapons and shields made."

"I can do that too! Maybe not as fast as them though. I bet you're wondering what element I use. But I'm not telling you yet! In any case, it's getting late, we should head back. Tomorrow we'll need to get up early."

"Alright. Let's go."

…

Back in our dorm, I had trouble falling asleep. Kyle was definitely nice, strange but nice. I got out of bed and glanced out the window. It was around 5am, and still dark outside. Guess I could go take a walk around this area, if I remembered correctly there was a beautiful, massive balcony on the third floor. Quietly, I made my way over to the balcony. I didn't want to wake anyone up with my stroll at 5am. However it would seem that someone was already up and on the balcony. I could just make out the person's figure. He or she was doing some sort of exercise. I got closer to get a better view. My breath caught in my throat. It was Chen Long, and he was doing Tai Chi on the balcony. I immediately tried to minimize my existence. Disturbing an Emperor while he was doing Tai Chi was the last thing I wanted.

"Boy. No need to fear, come join me." Chen Long said. His voice was soft and gentle. Not what I had expected.

Carefully, I walked towards him. "Good morning Master Chen Long." I bowed respectfully.

Chen Long raised a finger to his lips. "Shh. Listen."  
I waited for him to continue talking. He didn't. He resumed his Tai Chi, ignoring my presence. I was utterly confused and nervous, and I was still listening for whatever it was he wanted me to listen to. It felt like an eternity; with me standing still as a tree and listening, and him doing Tai Chi. I couldn't see Chen Long's eyes as he had his head down and his dark hair covered them. But I could see his tall lean body moving with grace. There were no unnecessary movements. The garment he was wearing was a black robe with yellow dragons stitched into it for designs.

"Chen Long, wake up, we have to get to our meeting." A voice from behind us called out lazily. As the person came closer, it got progressively harder to breath. The atmosphere felt extremely heavy. I dropped to one knee as I could no longer support myself under this pressure. This man was wearing the same thing as Chen Long. He had a small distinct mole under his left eye and short cropped brown hair.

"Good morning Fuji. Good morning, boy." Chen Long greeted us. "Fuji. Your presence will crush the boy."

"Oops."

Almost immediately, the pressure let up.

Wait…what? Chen Long was sleeping this whole time? Hold on, I've missed something even more important. Fuji, another Emperor was here.

"G-good morning Master Chen Long, Master Fuji!" I stammered quickly.

"You always do this. You don't know how much of a hassle it is to come get you every morning. Next time you do this, I'ma just leave you here." Fuji complained, ignoring me.

"But Fuji, we had a deal remember?"

"Yeah yeah. But seriously, please do something about your sleep-Tai Chi-ing."

"I will when you stop being a lazy bum."

"I'm not lazy, I just like to relax."

The two of them had completely forgotten I was there by now and they had left. Relieved, I leaned back against the wall. What just happened? It was only two days ago since I moved here and already so much has happened. The skill here is on a completely different level. If I wanted to gain recognition, I'd need to get much stronger. The first rays of sunlight had already made its way onto the balcony. Guess it was time to head back.

The emperors were on my mind the whole way back to the dorm. I couldn't even stand properly in their presence. This was the power of the emperors that protected our nation. It was terrifying. Though, how many people could say they met two emperors in one day? When I had almost reached my dorm hallway, I heard a scream and then smelled the unmistakable odor of smoke. I ran towards the scream.

The scene that began to unfold before me resembled a nightmare...


	4. The HotHeaded Emperor

Priscilla was cowering on the floor in the corner with Kyle holding her. She was clutching one of her hands and she was crying. Beside her was a man with the most apathetic eyes, and flaming yellow hair I've ever seen. He was holding Alice up by the hair; blood was streaming from her forehead, one of her arms was bent in a way that should have been impossible, smoke was rising from her body where she had been burned multiple times, and she was heaving with irregular breathing. The man tightened his grip on Alice's hair and lifted her higher. He was going to kill her.

Before I could scream at him to stop, another person entered the scene.

"Emperor La Phing, why don't you put her down now? I'm sure the two of them have learned their lesson, there's no need to continue anymore is there?" Hayley calmly said, never breaking eye contact with the man, emperor La Phing. "Isn't that right, Priscilla?"

"Y-yes." Priscilla whispered.

"Emperor La Phing, shall we ignore these ignorant fools and continue on our way to the meeting? Being late is always a hassle."

"Tch. Since it's you, Hayley. Let's go." Emperor La Phing dropped Alice, and she crumpled to the floor, unconscious but alive.

My sister never made eye contact with me. She turned and followed the emperor out of the dorm. Her dark hair was cut short and she wore white rimmed glasses now. She was as pretty and cold hearted as ever. As soon as they were gone, I ran over to Alice.  
"Kyle what the hell happened?" I asked, trying to stop her bleeding. "Did you call for help yet?"

"Yeah, the medics are on their way. I'll tell you later, first we need to put out these flames and make sure these two are going to be okay." He responded.

The medics arrived soon after and took Alice and Priscilla to the hospital. We put out the flames left from La Phing's outburst.

"Priscilla had stopped by Alice's dorm to talk, they're close friends. Then emperor La Phing walks by and sees Priscilla. He heard about her loss against Alice and commented about her 'losing to trash'. Priscilla ignored his nasty comment. But La Phing isn't used to being ignored." Kyle explained. "Then he started talking about Priscilla's dead husband. Alice tried to calm Priscilla down but to no avail. Priscilla told him to shut up. Then, quicker than anyone could register, he slapped her so hard she was sent crashing into the wall. He didn't stop there though. He was going to keep beating Priscilla, but Alice chose to interfere. Going to the injured Priscilla's defense, she tried to hold him back. But this just made La Phing even more angry."

Listening to it all made me incredibly pissed off. How could an emperor, whose job was to protect this nation, be so cruel? I clenched and unclenched my fists.

"I know how you're feeling. I feel the same way. But against him there is absolutely nothing we can do. We can only try to get stronger to protect our friends."

"I know." I sighed heavily. "What happened after?"

"Well La Phing is known as the Hot-Headed Emperor for a reason. His ability, appearance, and personality are all very befitting to that name. He absolutely crushed Alice, she was no match for him at all. Priscilla grabbed onto his leg and begged him to stop his assault. She told him to go after her instead. La Phing stomped on her hand and broke it, then kicked her away. After, he broke Alice's ribs, which pierced through one of her lungs and she screamed as the torture continued. I've never heard her scream in all the years I've known her. That's also when you came in. To be honest, if your sister hadn't showed up…I don't know what would have happened."

I nodded. After meeting Emperor Chen Long and Fuji, I hadn't thought someone like La Phing could exist. And this incident served as yet another reminder of the gap between me and my sister. So much was going through my mind but Kyle didn't have to know that. "What happened between Priscilla and La Phing? It seems like they have a grudge against each other."

"Priscilla's husband Peter was the former coach of arena 4. Arena 4 was La Phing's assigned arena. The two of them used to battle all the time. But young La Phing could never win. Until one day, when Peter's leg was still recovering from their last battle, La Phing insisted on having another match. The match resulted in Peter's death when La Phing took it too far. Since then, every time Priscilla lost, she would have to deal with La Phing's taunts."

"I see. He's like the embodiment of evil."

"Good way of putting it."

"I hope they're okay. Those two I mean."

"Yeah. Don't worry they're strong. I know this is probably the furthest thing from your mind right now, but we need to go to Applications Class." Kyle said.

"Oh that's right. First day of classes. Let's get motivated then. We can visit Alice and Priscilla afterwards."

"Okay. It's this way."

In Applications Class, we learned how to incorporate natural energy into different attacks and defenses. Then, the class was divided in half between those that knew their elements and those that didn't. The way you got to find your element was to gather natural energy first and see which element you felt the strongest. Then you would pull that element out. At least that was the idea. If you forcefully pulled out an element that didn't respond to you, you'd get hurt. The harder it resists, the stronger the side-effects would be.

I looked around. It would seem that my classmates were having an easier time finding their elements than I was. I was rapidly depleting my energy and getting nowhere. The instructor came over to me then.

"How are you doing?" He inquired.

"Not so great." I responded. "I can't feel anything."

"When you draw the natural energy in, you feel that right?"

"Well yes, but everyone can do that."

"Have you tried to forcefully pull one out?" The instructor asked me.

"Sort of…but it gets too difficult because once I focus on one element and try to pull, all the other ones start coming with it and I don't have enough energy to pinpoint the one I wanted anymore."

"Ah, I see…and when you try to find the one you feel the most you can't because…?"

"Because they all feel equally strong to me." I finished.

"Then, my friend, you are one in a thousand. It would appear that you are compatible with all the elements." He smiled at me.

All eyes were on me.

"What? That's impossible." I said.

"Try it. Don't pinpoint anything, and just pull them all out." He suggested.

"Alright then." This was crazy. But I gave it a go. I pulled at the giant clump of elements I felt, but nothing budged. I tried harder this time, using the remaining bit of energy I had left. And this time, they all came out to the surface. But then I ran out of energy and they dissipated back.

"It worked!" I said, dropping down to my knees, exhausted.

"Good work. You should get some rest and we'll try again tomorrow. It's pointless for you to continue as you've exhausted yourself." The instructor dismissed me.

I could still feel every ones eyes on me, and hear their whispers. But it didn't matter. I wanted to go visit Alice and Priscilla.

When I got to the medical wing of the school, I had to ask the nurse for their room number. I got their room number and stopped by a stall to buy two baskets of fruits. I knocked lightly on their room door before entering. There, standing beside Alice's bed, was the last person I expected to see, my sister Hayley. I glanced at the table beside them; there was a basket of fruits. Alice and Priscilla were asleep. Hayley slowly turned around to face me. She said nothing. She was waiting for me to talk first. And so I said the first thing that came to mind.


	5. Cow Award

"You cut your hair." I said lamely, mentally kicking myself. Here was the sister that I haven't spoken to for nine years and that's the first thing I have to say.

"Yeah." She smiled faintly, but it could have been my imagination because it lasted for only a split second.

"Uhm. Thanks for saving us from La Phing." I said awkwardly.

"Don't misunderstand. I didn't do it for you." She replied coldly. "I was only returning a favor."

Well damn. She's direct. "How have you been?" My poor attempt to change the topic.

"I've been fine. Now, if that's all, I'd like to be on my way. I do not have the time to answer idle questions."

There was so much I wanted to know. Why did you walk out on us nine years ago? Why do you hate us so much? Why did you go through so much just to avoid me? Do you know that even though you ignored my existence, all this time I've been left in your shadow? Do you know that I wish I could hate you too?

"I'll surpass you one day. And when that time comes, I hope we will be able to talk. I hope we'll be able to carry on a proper conversation. Until then, I will carry my unanswered questions." I said carefully.

"Very well. I look forward to then." Hayley responded, heading for the door. She hesitated, her face softening, she turned and said, "Good-bye Nathan."

"Bye sis." I waved slightly.

When she had gone, I dropped off the fruits near my sister's basket and left the hospital wing. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to talk; there was no point in pushing her. This way, we'd both have time to think carefully about what we wanted to say. Suffice to say, there was tons on my mind. Wearily, I made my way back to my dorm. Kyle wasn't there, but there was a note on the table that read 'gone to visit them'. I must have missed him on my way back.

Sprawling out on my bed, I stared at the ceiling. I don't know when, but I guess I dozed off because the next thing I knew, Kyle was standing over me telling me to get up. Groggily I cleaned myself up, getting ready for another day.

"Today we're having a meeting with the student council. You'll get to meet even more people." Kyle said.

"That's cool." I replied.

He stared at me for a few seconds before turning away. "You seem different."

"How so?"

"I dunno. Never mind. It's probably just me, let's get going." He smiled.

We arrived at the meeting room, which, let me tell you, was gargantuan. It was a really fancy looking place with a magnificent rectangular table in the center. Some people were already sitting at the table, and others were still filing in.

"There." Kyle pointed at the table. "Is where the student council members sit. They're all seniors…with the exception of two people."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"There's one freshman and one junior." He smirked. "You're not the only special freshman Nathan."

"Ha ha. Very funny." I smiled back.

"There she is, the freshman Lily." Kyle pointed out a small lanky girl with short bobbed hair, skipping to her chair at the table with the rest of the council. "And right next to her is P.P.T, the junior."

"P.P.T?" I asked.

"Short for PowerPoint."

"Her parents named her PowerPoint? Like Microsoft PowerPoint?"

"Yep. Interesting name isn't it? P.P.T is really nice though." Kyle laughed. "Let's go over to our assigned seats." He led us towards the second row of chairs away from the table.

There were twelve council members. At the head of the table was the student president Ricky. He was very prominent and exuded an air of authority. When he rose, everyone else in the room rose too. He bowed slightly, welcoming us. We reciprocated his action. And then he began to talk in his loud booming voice.

"Good evening fellow students. Today we, the student council, have assembled you all here to address a couple of things." He paused, making eye contact with most of us. "First though, I'd like to introduce someone to you all quickly. He's this year's freshman exception. The brother to Hayley. Please welcome Nathan to the junior class."

Kyle nudged me. "Stand up." He whispered.

I rose slowly, bowed, and took my seat. Everyone applauded. I hadn't expected that. I saw Lily eyeing me curiously and pretended I didn't notice.

"I'm sure you have all heard rumors going around lately, that Priscilla will no longer be the coach of Arena Four. That is not the case. She will temporarily be out of action but once she recovers she will still be the coach." Ricky paused, letting everything sink in. "I don't want to hear anymore talk regarding that subject area."

Ricky looked around the room, daring anyone to contradict him. Nobody said a word.

"Moving on…Lily, can you give us this month's behavioral report?" Ricky said, taking a seat.

Lily stood up gracefully; though her full height was legitimately half of Ricky's she still had her own air of authority.

"Sure Ricky." Lily smiled. "The trouble-maker Jason was expelled from our academy for various reasons."

I briefly wondered if that was the same boy I beat up in the freshman wing of the school.

"The origin of ridiculously false rumors, Tom, has been punished in the Torture Chamber. Other than that, everyone's been on their best behavior." Lily said, taking her seat.

Well that's just lovely.

Ricky stood up again. "Thank you Lily. Now, I'm sure that you're all aware of the monthly tournaments. Our next tournament will be against the juniors of the Royal Courts Academy. The six chosen to represent our school must _**not**_ fail. Bring glory and uphold our honor. Failure will result in the Chamber or worse. That's all, meeting adjourned."

As everyone began leaving, I heard a voice in the corner say: "Alice? What a fool. She brought on the emperor's wrath; she got what was coming to her anyways."

I whipped my head in the direction the voice was coming from. The boy was of a medium build, he was neither fat nor skinny. I walked right up to him.

"What did you just say?" I demanded.

"Woah, woah buddy…do you know who you're talking to?" The boy beside him said.

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you." I shoved him aside, rounding in on my target once more.

"Why are you so uptight about her? She your girlfriend?" The baffoon chuckled.

"Take it back." I said, gritting my teeth. Kyle was now beside me, holding me back (luckily for him).

"He's emperor Fuji's younger brother you know!" The boy I shoved aside earlier squeaked.

"I don't care if he's the emperor's brother, the emperor's mother, or the emperor himself." I was pissed. "Fight your own battles you coward."

"What's going on here?" Lily inquired from behind us.

"Nothing, heh heh, nothing at all!" Kyle replied nervously.

"Trash." The baffoon muttered, and began to walk away.

"Coward!" I shouted at him.

Lily frowned at me. And Kyle was sweating bullets.

"He meant Cow Award. Larry loves to eat cows ha ha ha, I mean beef." Kyle plastered a smile on his face.

Lily burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "You're a riot Kyle. Okay, I gotta go now, talk to you guys later. Remember, play nice!" She skipped away.

"I'll kill him." I said.

"Nathan, buddy. What's wrong with you?"

"He was talking about Alice."

"He's also emperor Fuji's younger brother. I don't like what comes out of his mouth either but what can you do?" Kyle tried to reason.

"That's the other thing. He's a coward. Using your sibling as a crutch like that, he's weak. And he pisses me off."

"I see. Well why don't we head to class first. We can deal with him later if need be." Kyle suggested.

He didn't see. He didn't have to live in his sibling's shadow. My own sister was in Tier 1, but that didn't mean I could use her to fight my own battles. That kid Larry needs to grow up. I shook my head, trying to clear it. I was really agitated. And the recent confrontation with my sister, with La Phing, and with Larry wasn't helping. Right now however, I had to concentrate on class. If I wanted to become stronger, I needed to give it my all.

"Hey Nathan, are you going to apply for this month's tournament against the Royals?" Kyle asked.

Oh. That's perfect. "Good idea, thanks man." If I could get on that team, I'd be able to fight against the Royals, a Super Power nation. "So...how does one apply?"


	6. Ring

"We have to get a form from Mr. Li. Afterwards; there will be a competition between all the applicants in Arena 1. The matches will be evaluated by some higher-ups and they'll ultimately decide who's going to be on the team. Cake walk huh?" Kyle explained.

"Yeah sounds great…" I replied sarcastically.

"Thing is, you can already count 3 of those 6 spots out." He grinned.

"Why? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Alice, P.P.T, and Myst are going to get in, hands down." He said matter-of-factly. "Let's go get the forms."

"Who's Myst? And you're applying too?" I asked, following him.

"Myst is the strongest junior excluding those in the council, and tier 2. I wasn't planning on applying but since you are, I guess I can too. Just to keep you company." Kyle said, rounding the corner to Mr. Li's office. He knocked lightly on the door.

"Cool, how many people usually apply do you know?"

"About 75% of the juniors apply." Kyle said. "You nervous?"

Just then Mr. Li opened the door. "Well, hello kids. What brings you around here?"

"Can you give us two forms for the tournament against the Royals?" Kyle asked.

"Oh? You kids are planning on applying?" Mr. Li directed the question more towards me.

I nodded. Mr. Li looked pleased, handing us each a form.

"Then I wish you all the best." He said.

I stared at the form in my hand, and slowly filled it out. Step one was complete. But a major problem still remained. How was I going to be chosen for the team if I couldn't even use my elements? The competitions were starting 2 days from now…there was hardly any time for me to train.

That day, I woke up extra early again. I decided to pay a visit to the sleep-Tai Chi-ing Emperor. As I'd expected, Emperor Chen Long was doing Tai Chi on the 3rd floor balcony once again. I approached him quietly like last time, and like last time, he noticed me right away.

"Still so nervous?" Chen Long asked. "Actually join me this time, boy."

"Master Chen Long." I greeted him respectfully with a bow. I began to mimic his movements because I had no idea how to do Tai Chi.

"Relax. Your shoulders are too stiff, bend your knees." He said.

I glanced at him and did as he instructed. He looked so peaceful and graceful when he moved.

"Every movement you make, pretend there's an opposing force, don't just move your limbs uselessly like that." He chuckled.

"Oh. Alright, like this?" I asked.

"Ah yes! That's better. Just like that."

I nodded, focusing on my movements and thinking about the upcoming competition.

"Let go. You're too tense again."

A pause.

"Something on your mind, boy?" Chen Long asked innocently.

"Uhm you could say that. I can't control my elements and there's a competition in two days. I'll lose for sure if I can't bring them out." I confessed.

After I finished talking, Chen Long stopped moving, stayed very still, and remained quiet for a few moments.

"Interesting…" He finally said.

I was confused. Chen Long had stopped doing Tai Chi, was that my fault? Had I interrupted him too much?

"You worry too much. Your body is too tense, your mind is too tense. Relax, and take several deep breaths. Clear your mind." He instructed.

I did as told, and managed to somewhat clear my mind.

"Good enough. Now try again, pull out your elements."

I summoned them all up. It felt different this time; I could feel them as individuals and not as a bundle. Slowly, one by one, they all came to the surface. I could feel the air around me shift and change as my aura grew.

"Truly interesting. It would appear that you really are a genius." Chen Long praised.

"Thank you Emperor Chen Long!" I beamed. I couldn't believe my ears. To be honest, just being in his presence was a huge incentive though. There was no room for failure, and I felt the need to impress him. Despite all that, I was still somehow able to clear my mind…in a way, being near him was stressful but oddly relaxing.

But it would seem there was no time to rejoice; as soon as I finally formed my aura I felt it begin to dissipate.

"Mmm…" Chen Long frowned disapprovingly. He began rummaging through his robe. "I suppose I could help you."

I stared at him, not comprehending his words, and concentrating all the energy I had into keeping my aura.

Chen Long pulled out what I thought was 6 individual rings at first, but turned out to be one ring made of 6 ring bands that were intertwined. Almost immediately, I felt my aura being pulled into the small silver ring. "Don't worry."

What is _going on_? Eventually, the suction feeling stopped, and I was completely drained of all my energy. I collapsed but Chen Long caught me before I fell.

"Your powers are still immature." He smiled. "It's impossible for you to master them in two days. What I did just now was store all that energy you released inside of this ring. For the days leading up to the competition, continue to store your energy inside the ring. When it comes time to do battle, draw it out and you will be able to use elements of your choosing."

"I see…but if I may ask, why are you helping me?"

"Storing energy is simple. Just do what you did today, and the ring will do the rest for you. Now, drawing out elements from the ring is a little trickier but still quite simple. Here you see 6 ring bands correct?" Chen Long asked, ignoring my question.

I nodded my head yes.

"Good. Now each of these rings holds an element, when you hover your finger over them you'll know which one. I know your body contains more than 6 elements but 6 is the limit for this ring. Though 6 should be more than enough. Anyways, just use a bit of energy and you'll be able to pull that element out; this is a special ring that links up with your mind."

"Thank you so much! But where did you get this ring?"

"The weather is beautiful, Fuji will be happy today. It's warm and he doesn't have to come fetch me. Does that answer your question?"

You're kidding me. Emperor Chen Long only helped me because I captured his interest long enough to wake him up, thus Emperor Fuji wouldn't have to come do it. He was helping me because now Fuji wouldn't be mad at him.

"Uhm, yes, thank you."

"I must go now, for once I think I'll be giving Fuji the wake up call. Good bye, boy." Chen Long chuckled to himself, walking away.

When I saw Kyle, I told him I wanted to train before class.

"Sure buddy, we can go to Arena 4." He said.

"Great, I want to test something out. Thanks."

We arrived at Arena 4, and low and behold, there was Larry and his posse. I wasn't here to pick a fight however, and so I hoped he wouldn't notice our arrival. No luck.

"Well well well." Larry said disdainfully as he came over. "What have we here?"

"Two midgets." His friends chimed in.

"Hey. Shut up." I retorted, trying to walk past them.

"Oh? Looks like you're the only coward here." Larry spat. "Where did all of that confidence go, little freshman? I thought you were gunna take me down?"

"I will. Just not today, now, if you'll excuse us."

"I—," Larry began.

"Larry. Just stop, it's too early for this. If you want a match, have an official one. Register for the tournament against the Royals." Kyle interrupted. "I'm sure you'll have a chance to face off during eliminations."

"Hah, you don't have to tell me twice. We've already registered. You two are going down." Larry said, pointing his thumbs down. "See you later, midgets."

"I'm a midget that'll kick your ass." Kyle muttered under his breath. "Forget the idiot, let's start."

We entered the Arena, facing each other. I was interested to see what Kyle's fighting style was. I wasn't going to let my guard down just because he was small. We bowed respectfully and began.

Kyle and I charged at each other simultaneously. Our arms locked, so Kyle tried to roundhouse kick me in the face. I dodged, tapping into one of the rings. Ice. I immediately drew it out and formed a razor sharp dagger. Kyle's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly recovered, he backed up putting space between us. I lunged forward, and he threw a punch at me. It won't hit me, I thought, he's too far away. But just as I thought that, a hit connected with my face. I crashed into the ground, hard.

Impossible. He was so far away. How did he land a hit?

"You must be wondering how I hit you from so far away." Kyle said, standing above me, getting ready for a finishing blow.

Before he could continue any further I quickly tapped into the second ring. Earth. I pulled up the ground and deflected his blow with it. Immediately after that, I tapped into yet another ring, fire. I concentrated it into my palm and blasted it in Kyle's direction. The blast created a blanket of smoke that made the visibility zero. I waited for it to clear. When it let up a bit, I could see Kyle, he was unharmed. Next thing I know, he was right next to me, and I'd just been kicked in the gut. I could see stars, but there was no time to catch my breath. Kyle landed twelve consecutive hits in the next few seconds. I was having a hard time staying conscious.

Mustering all the strength I had left, I tapped into the fourth ring. This power was something completely different. Element of hypnosis. Suddenly, Kyle stopped his assault. He looked extremely confused, and scared.

"Nathan?" He called out in the opposite direction of where I was. "What is this? Where am I?"

I didn't respond, we were in the middle of a fight after all. I tapped into the Element of Ice and encased Kyle in a prison of ice. As soon as I finished, I released the illusion and he snapped back to reality. Sweat was dripping from his forehead even though he was trapped in ice. At that moment, I finally understood what his ability was. Agility. He could move quicker than my eye could follow. However, trapped in ice, no matter how fast he could move, it was no use.

"Well it would appear that I've lost." He chuckled. "I give. You win this one Nathan."

"You were one hell of an opponent, thank you for training with me." I said, while dispelling the ice. "Cold?"

"Uh, well duh. How did you master those elements so quickly? Those were really high level techniques." Kyle said with a hint of envy in his voice.

"Long story…" I began to say, but suddenly felt very weak and light headed. Everything around me began to fade, and a vast endless pitch of blackness engulfed me.


	7. Match of the Century

I woke up gripping my head tightly. It hurt. Shielding my eyes, I glanced around the painfully white room I was now in. I did a double take as I realized I was in the hospital wing.

"Morning sunshine." Alice chimed in.  
"Well look who decided to get up." Another female voice said.

I turned towards the door and saw Alice, Priscilla, and Kyle walking in.

"Looks like our roles are reversed this time huh, Nathan?" Priscilla chuckled.

"Alice! Priscilla! You guys are alright!" I exclaimed.

"Of course. Who did you think you were worrying about?" Kyle laughed.

I smiled back but immediately remembered something more urgent.

"Wait how long have I been out for?" I asked.

"You've been out a whole day. Don't worry, the tournament is tomorrow and we've found out who your opponent is already." Alice answered.

I hadn't realized how exhausted I'd been. I guess resting was probably in my best interest anyways.

"Thanks Alice." I beamed.

"Your opponent is Key. Unfortunately we don't know all that much about him. But since his name hasn't come up, I would assume he shouldn't be too difficult for a genius like you." Kyle informed me.

"Oh I see…do you guys know who your opponents are?"

"Alice's first opponent defaulted after finding out he was paired with her. Therefore, her next match will be against Myst of the Rain. As for my opponent, her name is Ashley. She shouldn't be too difficult; I've watched her battle before. She's a very basic water element user." Kyle replied.

"Are you serious? Alice has to face off with Myst already?" Now that was a match I had to see.

"Alice the Ace versus Myst of the Rain. That is going to be the match of the century." Priscilla added. "Two of the deadliest juniors in this academy. Of course, regardless of who the winner is, they will most likely be evaluated differently and still end up on the representative team."

"Maybe I should just give up early and save myself some bandages. Since according to Priscilla I'll make the team no matter what." Alice smirked at Priscilla.

"Ha ha very funny Alice." Priscilla rolled her eyes.

"Glad to see you guys are back to normal. But let's let Nathan rest some more before tomorrow." Kyle laughed.

"Thanks for visiting." I said waving as I watched them all leave. Kyle turned around and gave me one last encouraging smile before he disappeared.

I reached slowly into my pocket, feeling around for the ring. It wasn't there. I shot out of bed and rummaged through the desk next to the hospital bed. I finally found it in the drawer next to me. I let out a sigh of relief. And it was then that I realized how pathetic I was. I was so powerless, scared, and dependent. Chen Long was right, this ring was only a temporary fix, I couldn't depend on something like this forever. Rolling out of bed I thought about tomorrow and all the tough opponents I'd be facing. Sighing once more, I decided to head back to my dorm. After all, it was more comfortable and familiar there.

(The next day…) 

I awoke to someone gently slapping my face. What the hell? I tried to slap their hands away. The attack didn't let up, he sure was persistent. I slowly opened up one eyelid to stare at my assaulter. It was Kyle. Go figure.

"Ugh, Kyle stop. What are you doing?" I moaned.

"Get up Nathan! Come on, get dressed, we gotta get ready!" Kyle exclaimed.

He was too energetic. It was too early for this. I got up slowly, making a point that I was not a morning person.

"Don't you want to see Alice's match? She's starting in twenty minutes. At least we can give her some support don't you think?" Kyle said as he was putting on his socks. "I think we'd make great cheerleaders." He smirked.

"Yeah yeah."I laughed. But it was true, I really did want to see Alice's match.

After we were all cleaned up and dressed, we proceeded towards Arena 1. There was already a massive amount of people gathered there. It was so crowded; we had to push our way through to get by. We could barely find Alice in the midst of all the people. But as soon as she saw us she beamed delightedly.

"Hey guys! I thought you weren't going to show up!" She pouted.

"How could we not come to cheer for our favorite girl?" Kyle smiled.

"Go get him!" I added.

"Thanks you guys. I appreciate it, I'll try my best, no guarantees though." Alice responded.

"You'll be fine. You're in Tier 2 after all." I reassured her. She smiled back and turned to prepare for her match.

"But there sure are a lot of people here…" Kyle muttered.

"Most likely because it's _their_ match." I reasoned.

"Guess you're right."

It was finally time. Priscilla came in with refreshments for us. Just in time too, Alice had just walked into the Arena.

"I made it!" Priscilla panted, all out of breath.

We nodded, too focused on the arena to give a proper response. I'd never seen Myst before and so I peeled my eyes open for him. The whole area suddenly became eerily quiet. It was then that Myst revealed himself. He was a tall slender boy dressed in all black. He had a hood that left his face in its shadow. He looked surprisingly normal, with nothing really outstanding about his outer appearance. He had a slight bend in his posture whereas Alice was standing tall and confident.

"Hello Alice." Myst politely greeted. His voice was gentle and light, but it contained a slight edge to it.

"Myst." Alice greeted in turn.

Never breaking eye contact, the two bowed, a signal that the match had now officially started.

Myst spread out his arms and whispered something quickly under his breath. Immediately, the whole arena was surrounded by a thick mist. Alice wasted no time in charging forward. Myst hadn't been fully concealed by the mist yet and she took full advantage of it. With two lethal daggers in each hand she whipped them in his direction. Skillfully dodging both of them, Myst created a giant hand out of water and used it to stop Alice's movements by trapping her. The hand squeezed Alice tightly and she gasped for air. Myst, feeling confident that Alice was thoroughly immobilized, revealed himself. Alice immediately formed spiked armored plates around her, causing the water around her to scatter. Released from his hold, Alice dashed towards Myst's blind spot and kicked him into the air. Taken aback momentarily, Myst fell hard on his back. Alice continued her attack relentlessly. Charging with two new daggers, she slashed at Myst who was off balance and desperately trying to avoid the deadly blades.

However he quickly recovered and created a bit of distance between them. In order to stop Alice's momentum, Myst slipped back into the heavy mist and created two miniature clouds within the arena. The clouds had a purple tint to them and as it started to rain down, the sound of erosion and decaying substances could be heard.

"Is that why…they call him that?" I whispered.

"Myst of the Rain…acid rain." Kyle said, shocked. "Even I would have never suspected such a deadly ability."

With the new clouds raining acid, the mist began to dissipate. Everyone was straining their eyes to see what happened to Alice. As the visibility got better, we could make out a huge iron shell. Presumably, Alice was under it, taking shelter. But even this shelter was being eroded away at an alarmingly fast pace. The scariest part was that Myst seemed to be unaffected by the acid rain. He calmly approached the iron shell as the rain bounced off of him. Creating another giant fist, this time made out of poisonous water, he proceeded to smash the shell and crush Alice along with it.

The battle was over, there was no escape route for Alice. Myst smashed the iron shell into pieces. Everyone jumped to their feet. Did Myst just slaughter Alice? Just then, out of the last remnants of the fading mist and in the opposite direction of the shattered iron shell, Alice slams an iron hammer into the back of Myst's head. Instantly, the acid rain clouds disappeared and Myst fell face forward, only to be caught by Alice before hitting the ground. Grunting in obvious and utter pain, Alice let him down slowly. Most of her body had been burned by the acid, despite the thin layering of armor she'd made. She couldn't afford to make the armor any thicker for fear of attracting Myst's attention. Alice had just barely won. Barely but she'd still done it.

"Ridiculous. That girl is too reckless!" Priscilla cursed under her breath.

"To think that the iron shell was just a diversion…and she took the acid without crying out in pain." Kyle shook his head. "Incredible."

"Even in a situation like that…she was able to turn his own mist against him. She's definitely something." I praised.  
The massive crowds of people were now cheering. Medics were rushing onto the Arena to take care of Alice and Myst's wounds. It looked like Myst was knocked out cold. But that was understandable. I was surprised his skull wasn't crushed in.


End file.
